Cocoa, Cuddles, and Nora Ephron
by Sar-kaz-m
Summary: Rated for implied adult activities. RS. This is pure cottoncandy fluff, due to a request for cuddling. High Sugar Content Brush your teeth after reading.


Title: Cocoa, Cuddling, and Nora Ephron  
By: Chibi-Kaz  
Vignette  
For Miera  
Rating: PG (some lite smooching)  
Ship: R/S  
Spoilers: Little to none.

  
  
  
It's not that she'd had a hard day. Not at all. Merely a frustrating day.   
The Ityddwytl were a remarkably friendly race of sentient avians, eager to share data and cultural intricacies. They just proved to be a unique challenge for a linguist -- three official languages plus specifics of body posture meant that she had three to four times the normal amount of work. Fortunately, she'd translated enough to get the ball rolling, and now looked forward to a relaxing shower and a good amount of sleep.  
  
It didn't help that she'd snapped at Malcolm this afternoon as well. She   
just couldn't help it. And what's worse, after three months of dating, he   
was finally beginning to be comfortable enough to show some public displays   
of affection, but she'd barked at him in the Mess when he'd leaned over to   
press a kiss on her cheek. His bland responses to her ranting had made her   
feel even worse. Well, she'd apologize tomorrow. She assumed he'd leave   
her alone this evening after that scene, even though they had planned to   
spend this evening together.  
  
With these tired and gloomy thoughts, Hoshi stabbed a finger at her doorpad   
and entered her quarters. And found herself in another dimension   
altogether.  
  
The lights, normally set to simply off or 100%, were dimmed to a comforting   
45%. Her hot plate glowed faintly under a steaming pot. A quick sniff   
identified the contents as warming cocoa. Her bed was turned down with   
pillows propped against the bulkhead, turning the bunk into a lounger. From   
the lavatory came billows of steam and the scent of lavender, coupled with   
tuneless humming. Hoshi smiled -- Malcolm couldn't carry a tune in a   
bucket, but he seemed to hum a lot when alone and relaxed. He also knew the   
words to more off-color sea chanties than anyone she'd ever met, but   
fortunately those didn't require much of a singing voice.  
  
Stepping from the lav, Malcolm smiled shyly at her. "Evening, luv." He   
paused, unsure of her reaction.  
  
"Oh, Malcolm!" Hoshi stepped into his arms and kissed him warmly. "You did   
all this for me?"  
  
He smiled in return. "Cocoa is warming, the shower's at 98 degrees and I   
snagged two films from the database. I thought we could just settle in and   
relax tonight."  
  
"Works for me!" Hoshi immediately divested herself of her uniform, with   
Malcolm's appreciative assistance. "What two films?"  
  
"I looked up that director you said you liked last week, and picked out   
'You've Got Mail' and 'Sleepless In Seattle'."  
  
Hoshi paused in the doorway to the lav. "You? Picked out two romances?"  
  
Malcolm flushed. "I just thought... well, you seemed to be rather stressed   
lately, and I thought..."  
  
Hoshi leaned over and dropped a kiss on his nose. "You are so wonderful,   
you know that?" She ducked into the lav before he could protest and   
showered quickly. After she dried off, Hoshi dressed in her comfortable   
pajamas and joined Malcolm on the bunk, where they cuddled up together and   
sipped cocoa, exchanging light kisses and sweet smiles while watching Tom   
Hanks and Meg Ryan navigate the perils of love in the late 20th century.  
  
As the first film ended, Malcolm said, "I was thinking about the Ityddwytl,   
and what you said at lunch about the language." He spoke hesitantly, not   
wanting to upset their comfortable bubble of contentment.  
  
"Hmm? What about it?"  
  
"Well, you were saying you had three times the translation work, but it all   
seems rather like Balinese theatre to me."  
  
Hoshi sat up. "What?"  
  
"Er, well, in Bali, each line is performed in each official dialect, plus   
the formal dance positions. They just repeat themselves in each   
dialect....." Malcolm trailed off. Hoshi's mind started wheeling. She'd   
been looking at the Ityddwytl languages as discrete, but if she applied the   
structure Malcolm described, it all made sense! It was a theatrical   
formality!  
  
Hoshi set her mug down deliberately on her desk. Turning, she plucked   
Malcolm's mug from his hands and set it aside as well. Malcolm looked at   
her warily as she grinned at him.  
  
"Strong, sweet AND smart. I think you're a keeper!" And she proceeded to   
show Malcolm just how much she appreciated him.  
  
END  



End file.
